This invention relates generally to the filtration of coolant which is supplied to machine tools that mill, drill, turn or otherwise machine metal workpieces and produce chips as a result of the machining process. During the machining operation, a continuous flow of clean coolant is supplied to the machining area in order to cool and lubricate the cutting tool and the workpiece. Chips from the workpiece are picked up by the coolant and circulate with the coolant to a filtration unit for removing chips and for supplying a flow of clean coolant to the machine tool.
More specifically, the invention relates to systems of the type in which the chips from several machine tools are centrally processed for disposal or salvaging. In the most commonly used systems of this type, dirty coolant from the several machine tools is carried in long flumes or pipes in the floor to a central collection area where a large filtration unit separates the chips from the coolant and returns clean coolant to the machine tools for reuse. The chips removed from the coolant at the central collection area are partially dried by a centrifuge, are crushed or compacted and are conveyed to a storage hopper for loading into trucks.
A system of the foregoing type is disadvantageous in that long and relatively expensive in-floor flumes are required to deliver the dirty coolant to the central filtration unit and equally long return lines are required to supply clean coolant from the filtration unit to the machine tools. In addition to being costly, the in-floor flumes can develop leaks and allow the coolant to contaminate the environment. Moreover, since the chips from several machine tools are mixed at the central filtration unit, chips made of different metals must subsequently be separated from one another if the chips are to be recycled as salvage.